Milwaukee's downtown area has seen a resurgence in recent years -- both men vying to be the city's next mayor agree on that -- but each accused the other of not doing enough for residential neighborhoods.

"After 12 years, we ought to be moving in a more productive way in addressing these nagging problems," 8th District Alderman Bob Donovan said at a Friday night debate, referring to incumbent Mayor Tom Barrett's time in office.

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Barrett acknowledged that challenges remain, but said he's worked hard to create jobs, deal with the foreclosure crisis, get guns off the streets and rebuild libraries.

Downtown is "booming," he said. "We need to get that momentum into the neighborhoods."

Barrett, elected in 2004 and now seeking his fourth term, said his opponent has been of little help improving the condition of neighborhoods and cited Donovan's temperament as a reason a seasonal costume company bailed on plans to settle in the Menomonee Valley and instead chose to remain in New Berlin.

The mayor said company officials told him that Donovan had been "abusive to us."

Donovan countered that he didn't support the plan because the company was offering part-time, seasonal work and not permanent, family-supporting jobs. Those are the types of jobs that have popped up since the BuySeasons deal went sour, a fact that Barrett later touted as a sign of his administration's will to win.

"I'm going to continue to fight no matter what happens. If I take it on the chin, I'm going to get up the next morning and dust myself off and continue to fight for more jobs in the city because that's what the people in the city want me to do," Barrett told reporters after the debate co-produced by WISN-TV and the Marquette University Law School.

The conversation, which included both clashes and moments of levity, covered public safety, race relations and Milwaukee's controversial streetcar system.

Donovan said the city needs hundreds more police officers and expressed confidence he'd be able to hire them. Milwaukee's municipal budget is roughly $1.5 billion, he said, and hiring more cops is just a matter of setting priorities.

"We will find the money," he said.

But Barrett pressed the issue, saying that 59 percent of the operating budget for the city goes to police and fire forces. He said spending on those departments has never decreased while he's been in office.

Donovan, a member of the Milwaukee Common Council for 16 years, later said he'd have a better understanding of the city's finances once he's mayor.

When the mayor said his administration has been able to keep property taxes under control despite reduced funding from Madison, Donovan said higher municipal fees were the result. The alderman conceded the mayor has done a "relatively good job" of keeping property taxes down, but said his own taxes went down because his property value decreased.

Barrett corrected him: "Your assessments went up, Bob. It went up. We checked."

When Donovan ribbed him for "doing such a good job of checking," Barrett went in for a handshake.

"April 5. I'd love to have your vote," the mayor said, eliciting laughter from those in the audience.

Barrett at one point forced Donovan to defend himself when he showed off a press release in which Donovan referred to "a deteriorating African-American culture" in the city. The alderman clarified that he was referring to a "subculture" involved in black-on-black crime.

"I'm not a racist," Donovan said.

When the conversation turned to the Milwaukee Streetcar, Donovan touted it as a "foolish waste of money" and said the entire project should be put to voters in the form of a referendum.

Barrett said the streetcar would be an important economic engine for the region and that he's betting on the future of the city.

"You can't name a major American city that's growing that doesn't have some type of fixed rail to it," he said. "I want us to be in the same league as those cities that are growing -- Denver, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, rather than Fresno, California."